He Never Left
by Charmed-Triquetra
Summary: My theory is that Cole did not die in Centennial Charmed, so this story is about what really happened and how he came back.
1. Darryl's Discovery

He Never Left- Chapter One: Darryl's Discovery.  
  
"Police." Darryl held up his lieutenant badge, "I'm here to see Morgan Alderman."  
  
The receptionist at San Francisco Memorial nodded and wordlessly turned to the computer to  
  
check for Morgan. When the name popped up, she turned back to Darryl,  
  
"Lieutenant Morris, Miss Alderman is in Room 304a: top of the stairs, first door to the right."  
  
"Thank you."  
  
"Wait." The receptionist said as Darryl turned to leave, "She is sharing a room with another  
  
patient, and he's a little delirious so watch what you say." Darryl nodded once more and headed  
  
towards the lift. He was pretty sure that receptionists were not actually allowed to divulge  
  
information about other patients, but he was still grateful that he was given the heads up.  
  
His thoughts turned to the patient he was going to see. Morgan Alderman was a teenager who  
  
was caught in a bank robbery and was shot in the arm. He hated having to question witnesses  
  
when they have been through so much, but he had no choice. Morgan was the only witness  
  
that wasn't in the intensive care unit. Darryl was so deep in his sorrow for Morgan that he only  
  
barely registered the two gossipy nurses who had also entered the lift.  
  
"Has the man in 304a woken up yet?" one asked  
  
"He never slept," the other replied, "he's just too delirious to get a straight answer out of him."  
  
"It's so weird. He's been here for about a year, and no one knows his name. What are the  
  
chances of finding someone unconscious near the Bay Bridge with no form of ID? Do we at  
  
least have a rough idea what his name is?"  
  
"No. All he does is mutter random words, like 'powerless, source, seer, lawyer, avatar, Phoebe,  
  
Belthazor... none of it has any connection to his condition."  
  
Darryl's head shot up upon hearing the 'random words'. It couldn't be! It's not possible!  
  
Before he could ask any questions, the lift had stopped and the nurses were leaving it. He  
  
walked out too, barely missing an elderly man in a wheelchair. This strange guy is in the same  
  
room as Morgan, so maybe he can set his mind at ease when he goes in there and finds that  
  
he was overreacting. He stepped into 304a,  
  
"Morgan Alderman?" Morgan looked up at Darryl. Her naturally plum hair was still wet from  
  
when the fire had started and the sprinklers went amok as if they had been preparing for this  
  
'performance' for years. There were several bruises over her face and neck. A bandage  
  
covered her gunshot wound on her arm, and it had absorbed a lot of blood.  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"My name is Darryl Morris, I'm a lieutenant for SFPD. I want to ask you a few questions about  
  
what happened today, if that is alright with you?"  
  
"Yes, sure." Darryl sat down and went forward with the interview, making notes as Morgan  
  
spoke. When he was finished, a nurse and a doctor came in.  
  
"Miss Alderman, we're going to transfer you to 401- your brother is being transferred out of  
  
ICU."  
  
"He's okay then?" Morgan asked, her voice thick with relief. The doctor nodded,  
  
"Yes, you two can share a room."  
  
"Thank God- the other patient in here is scaring me."  
  
'Paige. Sorry'  
  
Darryl turned to look at the opposite bed.  
  
"Lieutenant, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave so we can prepare Morgan for  
  
transference."  
  
Darryl didn't register what the doctor said. He was too shocked by the person who was on the  
  
other bed. The man looked about Darryl's height. His dark hair was in disarray and sweat clung  
  
to his forehead. His strong, muscular arms were constantly twitching, and his hands gripped  
  
the white hospital sheets. Darryl knew him- he had worked with him, argued with him, shared a  
  
mutual respect and distrust with him, and he'd recognise the overwhelming guilt that flew from  
  
this guy in waves.  
  
The only problem is that this man had been dead for nearly a year.  
  
The man in the bed was Cole Turner. 


	2. Awakening

Ah, the long awaited Part Two. I have completed 3 and 4, which will be up soon, and part 5 is in the works. Don't disappear! -CT   
  
Darryl paused with his hands in front on the payphone. Who to call? Cole was  
  
always a major button pusher for the girls, each in their own ways... so who was  
  
he to tell about this? There was no way he could keep this a secret. Not Cole.  
  
He knew that he should tell Phoebe, but considering her whole 'I must find the  
  
father of my future child' phase, learning that her ex husband is still alive is not  
  
going to sit well with her; Piper is pregnant now, and the last thing he wanted to  
  
do was add to her stress- especially since he learnt the hard way how grumpy  
  
she can be when she was with child; Paige had a huge grudge against Cole,  
  
after all he did and Leo was still reeling from finding out that Chris is his son, and  
  
that he hate him.  
  
The only one of the family that was least likely to freak would be Chris... but he  
  
was most likely to go on a tangent about Cole being the demon to turn Wyatt.  
  
I swear, if I have to hear that one more time, I'm going to give Chris a black eye  
  
Darryl thought. Since Leo wasn't going to be much of a help, he knew that his  
  
only chance was Paige. At least she couldn't accidentally vanquish him.  
  
Darryl hastily dialled Paige's mobile number, and waited impatiently as the phone  
  
rang.  
  
"Paige Matthews." Paige answered the phone, her voice slightly breathless.  
  
Darryl didn't really want to think about what he may have interrupted,  
  
"Paige, its Darryl." Paige frowned at Darryl's tone of voice,  
  
"What's wrong?"  
  
"I need you to come down to San Francisco Memorial as soon as you can. It's  
  
important."  
  
"What?" Paige's eyes widened. Why the hospital? "Are my sisters alright?"  
  
"They're fine. It isn't about them. Just come here, and I'll explain."  
  
"Okay, I'll meet you in the main parking lot in about 20 minutes."  
  
Paige hung up and frowned again. Darryl normally sounded panicked- it was just  
  
his personality- but right now he seemed more freaked out than usual. Compared  
  
to how he had been made his reaction when he was attacked by the warriors that  
  
followed them out of Valhalla earlier this year seem like a brisk walk. Something  
  
really bad must have happened... but what?  
  
"Matthews!" Paige's newest boss loomed over her. She jumped. She had been  
  
so glad when the temp agency had assigned her to work at a children's help  
  
hotline, but her boss was a total ass wipe. It surprised her that this idiot was  
  
actually good at giving advice... despite the fact that most of the callers found  
  
him really creepy. She plastered a smile on her face,  
  
"Yes sir?"  
  
"Instead of staring into space and making personal calls, it may make sense that  
  
you do some work!"  
  
"I'm sorry, but there's an emergency and I have to go."  
  
"What?" her boss started to go red. Man, this guy had a short temper!  
  
"I'll be back in an hour or two- I won't take a lunch break today, okay?" Without  
  
waiting for an answer, Paige left. She knew that there would be hell to pay when  
  
she got back, but she'd rather be fired than leave a friend hanging.  
  
"Hey, Darryl!" Paige chirped as she climbed out of her cute, green, VW Beetle,  
  
"What's going on?"  
  
"I need you to come with me." Darryl led Paige into the hospital. Now she was  
  
getting really worried,  
  
"Are you okay? What's happened?"  
  
"If I told you, you would not believe me. You need to see for yourself."  
  
Within a few minutes, Darryl and Paige were up in 304a. Morgan had  
  
already been moved to another room, and a curtain concealed the other bed.  
  
Paige sighed with a mixture of relief and annoyance,  
  
"You dragged me out of work to see an empty room?" Darryl shook his head  
  
grimly,  
  
"It isn't empty." Darryl led her around the pink curtain, and watched as a look of  
  
shock and anger appeared on her face as she took in the image of Cole in front  
  
of her.  
  
"Oh my God!"  
  
"Paige- are you-"  
  
"I need to sit down." Paige stated and fell onto the unfortunately cheery yellow  
  
chair near the window.  
  
"Are you okay?"  
  
"Am I okay?" Paige repeated, "I'm sitting in the same room as the man who broke  
  
my sister's heart and tried to kill me! Do you think that I'm okay? And, you know,  
  
this whole 'Cole is still alive' thing is getting really really old!" Paige put her head  
  
in her hands in attempt to collect her bearings.  
  
"Paige?"  
  
"What?" Paige snapped as she looked up at Darryl, who had a confused look on  
  
his face. His brows knitted together,  
  
"I didn't say any..." Darryl trailed off and turned around. Paige followed his line of  
  
vision and stood up defensively, her body tense.  
  
For the first time in over a year, Cole was fully conscious. 


	3. Confrontation

A/N- In response to my latest reviewer, who pointed out that Cole should have been killed by the potion: My theory is that in 'Look Who's Barking', an alchemist transmuted Cole's blood so that the potion to vanquish him would not work. This means that the potion shouldn't have dented him. Or, that Cole still had the power to reverse his spell, which means he was still full on Avatar as well and Belthazor, which means that alternate him died, but the real Cole didn't.

Everything is explained in Chapter 4.

Everyone else, thank you for reviewing!

-CT

"You son of a b-" Paige advanced on Cole with an extreme amount of anger; almost enough to

send him back to the Wasteland.

"Paige, don't." Darryl held her back, knowing that her attacking a patient will get both of them

thrown out of the hospital and they would never get any answers from Cole.

Cole opened his mouth to say something, but burst into a coughing fit. His throat sounded

alarmingly dry, and his coughing was getting hoarser by the second. It caused his heart rate to

jump and spark the nurse's alarm. A nurse and a doctor came in and started working to stabilise

Cole's system.

Paige stood by the door, trying to calm herself down. She deeply despised this man, with fair

reason, yet seeing like this caused her heart to go out to him. Paige silently scorned herself for

feeling sympathetic for Cole after all he had done, which lead her back to the beginning of her

thoughts.

It was just a vicious game of ping pong in her head.

After a few thought circles she realised that the doctors had left, and she was left in the room

with Darryl and Cole.

Cole shakily sipped from a glass of water and sat up,

"Paige? Darryl? What am I doing here?" his voice was raspy, "What happened?"

"You tell us!" Paige demanded, only slightly aware of Darryl's 'keep silent' look.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Darryl asked, trying to keep his voice level. Cole

winced, as if every word being said was a blow to his head,

"Phoebe, throwing the potion. Flames." He looked up, his faced filled with pain and guilt, "How

am I still alive?"

"I don't know," Paige snapped sarcastically, "Maybe you wanted to cheat death and try to kill

me and my sisters again!"

"Paige." Cole said, with tears in his eyes, "I'm so sorry. I wish that... I shouldn't have blamed

you. I never should have gone that far."

"Damn right!" Paige snapped again. Cole closed his eyes, possibly trying to block out the

memory of what he had done.

"Paige." Darryl interrupted, "You're going to have stay calm. The last thing we need is to get

thrown out for harassing a patient."

"Patient?" Paige's voice was dangerously low, "He's no patient. He's a demon."

"No, I'm not." Cole weakly protested, "I can't feel any power inside of me. I'm human. Or, at

the very least, powerless."

"This is too much to take." Paige muttered to herself. She took a deep breath and looked

upwards, "Leo!"

Leo orbed in within seconds. He immediately saw Cole and stared at him, speechless. Darryl

could tell that he was probably questioning whether he was seeing correctly.

"Hey. Long time, no see..." Cole joked weakly. Paige rolled her eyes. This wasn't getting her

anywhere. Finally, Leo spoke,

"What is he doing here?"

"I don't know!" Cole shouted, although his form of a shout was not really all that loud, "It isn't

like I planned this. I deserve to be dead after what I've done."

"Maybe we should move this conversation elsewhere?" Darryl suggested, "Before anyone

overhears."

"Sure." Paige said in monotone. Darryl's pager went off. He looked at it and turned to face his

friends,

"I've got to head back to the station." Paige nodded, and Darryl left. He had clearly wanted to

help and was disappointed that he wasn't able to. After a moment of silence, Cole spoke,

"Uh... I know I'm not the most level minded, but where can we go?"

"Not the Manor." Paige said.

"What about the sanctuary I set up for the other Elders?" Leo proposed.

"But-" Paige began, but Cole interrupted,

"Paige- if I'm evil, neither of you will be able to orb me. The only person who has something to

lose is me." Paige folded her arms,

"Fine."


	4. The Truth

**_A/N- the long awaited fourth chapter! I know- it's been so long since I updated this fic. I came across my notes on the fourth chapter a few days ago and figured that I should update this for those who want to read what happens._**

_**Anyways, enjoy!**_

Water dripped into a young puddle formed by rainfall that had leaked through the roof and into a small dip in the ground. The water ran down a neighbouring boulder like a miniature river and added to the small pool.

A little mouse dipped his paws into the water and used it to cleanse himself, wiping away the debris his fur had collected from his hiding place.

He was startled by two sets of swirling blue and white lights that appeared before him, and scurried back to his home as the mass of lights faded and formed into three humans.

As the orbs dissipated, Cole dropped to the floor from Leo's grip. It had been a long time since he had been magically transported, let alone orbed, and he needed time to get used to it again.

Leo immediately helped Cole stand up again and moved him to the bolder that was about two feet away from where they had materialised. His bare foot landed in the puddle that resided before it and a jolt shot up his leg as a result of the water's unexpected coldness. However, he ignored it. He instead relished in the fact that Paige and Leo were willing to listen to his story, however grudgingly.

They could have left him to rot in the hospital- to spend the rest of his life under John Doe status and reliving the horrors of his life prior to his coma. He watched Paige as she spoke to Darryl on the phone, listening intently to the conversation. Although he knew that eavesdropping was not going to help his case, he was pleased to learn that Darryl was being kind enough to provide the hospital with his details and use his connections to find Cole a place to live in while he got back on his feet.

Knowing that he had a place to go gave Cole a huge sense of relief. He didn't doubt that the Halliwell sisters would keep him away from the Manor at all costs, and the thought of returning to the penthouse made him feel ill. He had too many bad memories associated with that horrific place. Cole was touched that Darryl was going through all of this for him, despite everything he had put him, Leo and the sisters through. It comforted him to know that there was still so much good in the world despite all that evil had done to destroy it.

Paige hung up and shoved her mobile phone in the pocket of her jeans. She stood in front of Cole with her hands on her hips,

"Okay, I've done the 'good person' thing and got Darryl to find you a place to stay. Now it's time for you to talk. How did you get here?"

_You and Leo orbed me here?_ Cole responded in his head automatically. Paige scowled at him as though she had read his thoughts and he remembered that his relationship with Paige had gone far beyond friendly humour and sarcasm at this point. He blinked wearily,

"Like I said earlier, I don't know. The last thing I remember is Phoebe throwing the potion. The next thing I remember clearly is the hospital."

"You're lying." Paige spat at him. She was disgusted that he had the gall to lie to her face after she granted him the courtesy of not vanquishing his sorry ass the moment that she saw him.

"No, I'm not." Cole responded instantly, as though he knew that was what Paige was going to say to him, "I honestly do not remember anything that has happened since Phoebe vanquished me."

"You expect me to believe that?" Paige demanded angrily.

"Paige." Leo said, eager to prevent an argument from forming, "I know you're not Cole's biggest fan right now, but you may as well hear him out."

Paige looked at her brother-in-law for a moment, and then looked back at Cole. He looked so pleading: so hopeful that Paige would buy his story. She scoffed,

"Screw that." She closed her eyes for a second while she thought of an incantation. She opened her eyes and focussed her energy on Cole,

"I call upon the Powers that Be

To unseal mysteries from a distant memory

I wish to unlock secrets from a life so vast

Show us the truth of Cole Turner's recent past"

Paige winced inwardly at the poor construction of the incantation, but it seemed to work. A swirl of silver light appeared between herself and Leo and Cole, creating a portal. Within this portal, a scene played out: Cole's last living moments within the alternate reality he had created.

"_I do hate long goodbyes." Paige said, smiling slightly, and prepared to throw the vanquishing potion in her hand._

"_No!" Alternate Phoebe cried out and grabbed the potion from her sister's hand. Paige looked at her in disbelief,_

"_Phoebe, are you crazy? Throw it before he shimmers out."_

_Cole didn't shimmer out. Instead he watched Phoebe with the assurance that she still loved him and would not kill her husband._

"_She's not going to throw it." He said to Paige, although he kept his eyes on Phoebe. He started to address his wife, "Are you?"_

"_Throw the potion!" Paige repeated in hopes that Phoebe would come to her senses and do what she should have done years ago._

"_We've been through so much together, haven't we?" Cole continued as though Paige hadn't said a word. He hoped that appealing to the part of Phoebe that loved him would cause her to discard the potion. "Our love's so strong, nothing can destroy it. Not even this. We're meant to be together."_

_Phoebe watched him with a smile playing on her lips. Cole stared into her eyes and he could see that her love for him was fighting the resentment that she had developed in this reality. Her eyes suddenly hardened, and Cole realised what was about to happen. In that moment, his heart broke._

"_I don't think so." Phoebe declared as she threw the potion. It hit Cole square in the chest, attacking his already aggrieved heart. The flames engulfed his body, subjecting him to excruciating pain… although nothing compared to his emotional state. _

"_NO!" he screamed as tears streamed from his eyes. As he exploded, his last thought was that the love of his life hated him._

_A couple of seconds after the explosion, Paige disappeared in a swirl of light. Phoebe stared at the pile of ash that remained of her husband for a few seconds before crouching beside Alternate Piper and Alternate Leo to see if they were okay._

_The scene suddenly changed to Cole's apartment at night. The penthouse was still a mess from Paige's failed attempt to vanquish Cole the night before. Two male figures stood among the debris of the broken window._

"_The correct reality has been restored." The first man stated as he stared out onto the city, "Which means we will be able to continue towards our goal."_

"_What it means is that Cole is dead, Alpha." The second man responded, "And that we have lost a very powerful ally."_

"_No, we haven't." Alpha smiled, "When Cole assumed the identity of Belthazor in his reality, he did not become him in the full sense. He needed to retain the power to maintain or reverse the spell, so he was still an Avatar. That potion would not have dented him."_

"_But he was vanquished." The other man frowned, not quite following Alpha's reasoning._

"_No. He disappeared because I undid his spell. If Paige had seen that he was alive, she may have found another way to kill him while he was still weak."_

"_So where is he?"_

"_My intervention required me to rip Cole out of his reality while he was in a state of great pain. Physically and emotionally. It hurt him quite badly. Give it time. He will be ready to join us soon."_

_Before the second man had a chance to reply, a ringing sound echoed through the penthouse, telling the two men that someone was arriving via the lift. They transported out of the room as the lift doors opened, revealing Paige, Phoebe and Piper._

The portal closed and the silver light faded away, leaving Paige, Leo and Cole in a state of surprise. Leo turned to Cole,

"Do you know who those men are?" he asked. Cole nodded somewhat shamefully,

"They're the Avatars of Power. They lured me into their fold with the promise that I would not be tempted by evil. They did advise me against that spell… I wish I had listened to them."

"What, so they're a neutral power?" Paige asked with a rather sceptical tone of voice.

"I don't know." Cole replied. "All I know that they must have been waiting for me all this time. But I think I am human again, so I would be of no use to them now."

"You expect us to believe you? How do I know that you're not going to summon them here now and kill us? And if either of you point out that Leo cannot die, I swear to God-"

"Paige." Leo said gently. Paige whipped her head around and looked at him,

"What?"

Cole shakily stood up, finally removing his foot from the puddle. The sudden blast of air that met his skin was a lot colder than the water itself, so he slipped his toes back to where they were before. The water was pleasantly warm now. He leant on the boulder for support,

"Paige, I know that I haven't given you any reason to trust me, but I need you to believe that I'm telling the truth." Cole shifted so that he was standing in front of Paige,

"Look into my eyes. Then tell me if you still think I'm being less than truthful with you."

Paige reluctantly looked up into Cole's ice blue eyes, expecting to see soulless pits that reflected those of an evil demon who was ready to set a darklighter on her and Leo at any moment. However, instead of seeing a heinous monster, she saw the man she saw two years ago.

All the resentment that Cole apparently held for her was gone, and she saw a century's worth of pain and guilt. She saw his pride over the good he did before the Source took over him and the hope that he would be able to have another chance in this world. She also saw that his sadness about Phoebe was still gnawing at his heart, but she could tell that he had a grim determination to not let it destroy him like it had before.

He wasn't Belthazor, he wasn't the Source and he wasn't a crazed demonic human.

He was Cole Turner.

She decided at that point that she was going to give him one more chance to prove himself. Cole, realising what Paige's decision was, smiled broadly at her and Leo. Although they all felt a sense of dread when they realised that they would need to tell Piper and Phoebe about him.

It wasn't going to be pretty.


End file.
